UN human rights team believes chemical weapons used by both sides in Syria

Updated
Tue Jun 04 19:33:58 EST 2013

Photo

A man is taken into hospital after an alleged chemical weapons attack in Aleppo in March.

Reuters

United Nations human rights investigators say they have "reasonable grounds" to believe that limited amounts of chemical weapons have been used in Syria.

In their latest report, they said they had received allegations that Syrian government forces and rebels had used the banned weapons, but that most testimony related to their use by state forces.

The commission examined four reported toxic attacks in March and April but could not determine which side was behind them.

"There are reasonable grounds to believe that limited quantities of toxic chemicals were used," Paulo Pinheiro, who chairs the UN commission of inquiry, told a news conference in Geneva.

Key points

UN experts cannot determine which side used chemical arms

Team checks reports of four gas attacks, none large-scale

It says both sides commit war crimes, especially government

"It has not been possible, on the evidence available, to determine the precise chemical agents used, their delivery systems or the perpetrator.

The witnesses interviewed include victims, refugees who fled some areas and medical staff, Mr Pinheiro said, declining to be more specific for reasons of confidentiality.

President Bashar al-Assad's government and its opponents have accused each other of using chemical weapons.

The UN team of more than 20 investigators conducted 430 interviews from January 15 to May 15 among refugees in neighbouring countries and by Skype with people still in Syria.

Vitit Muntarbhorn, one of its members, said the team had cross-checked testimony about chemical weapons and viewed videos including on YouTube.

But the team said the findings remained inconclusive and that it was vital a stalled separate team of experts named by UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon be given full access to Syria to collect samples from victims and sites of alleged attacks.

In any case, atrocities committed with conventional weapons far outweighed any casualties from the use of chemical agents, Mr Pinheiro said, noting the absence of a large-scale toxic attack.

Conflict showing new levels of brutality

"The conflict in Syria has reached new levels of brutality", the 29-page report said.

The UN team said Syrian leaders must be held accountable for directing a policy that includes besieging and bombing cities and executing civilians.

"The documented violations are consistent and widespread, evidence of a concerted policy implemented by the leaders of Syria's military and government," they said in their fifth report on the 26-month-old war that has killed more than 80,000.

Government forces and allied militia have committed murder, torture, rape and other inhumane acts, the report said.

But it also found rebels and allied foreign militants have murdered civilians as well as captured soldiers, often after "show trials" in an increasingly sectarian conflict.

"They continue to endanger the civilian population by positioning military objectives in civilian areas," the report added.

However, war crimes by rebels, including murder, torture and hostage-taking, did not reach the intensity and scale of those committed by government forces and affiliated militia.

The team called on the UN Security Council to ensure that those responsible for crimes face justice, including by possible referral of Syria to the International Criminal Court.